Bastille In South Africa
It’s not too often that I get to test my photography skills against wildlife or landscapes. I grab the chance when I get it, but unfortunately that’s far too infrequent. You just don’t go around as a music photographer thinking that a safari is part of the job. No elephants, no rhinos, no lion cubs crawling on the lead singers.
And then Bastille went to South Africa
The safari and hanging out with the animals at the sanctuary were absolute highlights of the trip. I can’t believe how awesome it was to be in the midst of truly wild places. We even got locked into our rooms at the hotel one night since there were leopards prowling. The banter and stories with the group when they’re together and off the beaten track like that is awesome as well. As usual, hanging with the Bastille crowd is such a fun way to spend time—any opportunity for either genuine passion for what we were witnessing or a tongue-in-cheek sense of humour… and that’s what we had.
Of course the point of the trip was the shows. And there were some huge ones. They had two great performances in Cape Town in an outrageous setting. Between being right there alongside the forest and the mountains and the enthusiasm of the fans just blew me away. It’s very cool to get so far from home turf but see a similar attitude in the crowds. Then the show at Johannesburg was absolutely off the charts: 15,000 and their biggest show ever.
This was quite a tour. Start to finish I might even call it one of the best.
